On Thursday evening, the Los Angeles Lakers unveiled a statue honoring the late franchise icon Kobe Bryant, who tragically passed away in 2020. The statue unveiled Thursday depicted Bryant in his iconic number eight jersey that he wore for the first half of his career, one hand raised toward the sky, and sits in front of the Lakers' home, the Crypto.com Arena.

Before the statue was unveiled, Bryant's widow, Vanessa Bryant, addressed the crowd of Lakers fans gathered in front of the arena, and she revealed that the Lakers will be unveiling not one but ultimately three statues of the late icon: one with the number eight (revealed Thursday), one of Bryant wearing number 24 (which he wore during the second half of his career), and one of Bryant with his daughter Gianna, an aspiring basketball player in her own right who tragically passed away along with her father in 2020.

Although three statues might not necessarily be the norm, it would admittedly be difficult to encapsulate everything that Kobe Bryant meant to the Lakers organization and the sports world as a whole in just one memorial, especially considering that he compiled so many iconic career moments on both sides of the jersey switch he made during the late 2000s.

While Bryant is no longer here with us, it is good to see that the franchise ensures that his legacy will continue to live on with this statue, and evidently, two more statues to come, outside of the Cryptoc.com Arena, known as the Staples Center when Bryant wowed crowds there on a nightly basis.